Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Rating Lowered to Neutral at UBS Group

UBS Group cut shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. UBS Group currently has $209.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $226.00.

HSY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup cut shares of Hershey from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Hershey from a hold rating to an underperform rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $197.90.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $187.59 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $195.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $37.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.37. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hershey will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 55.0% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Hershey by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 7,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.